South Korean boyband EXO members Tao, Sehun and Suho spent the recent Mid-Autumn Festival together on a holiday to Sanya, China. However, their vacation was interrupted by 40 stalker fans who followed them throughout the trip.

Frustrated, Tao took to Weibo to reprimand these fans. He wrote: “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival. I really don’t know what to say anymore. Following us from Korea to our destination? Fine. But now you are following us all the way to our accommodations. Don’t go overboard!”

Tao’s post drew both supportive comments and criticism. Some people agreed that “stalker fans have no right to invade their idols’ privacy”, while others felt that the singer, as a public figure, should not publish such remarks. The 21-year-old deleted his post shortly after.

According to Hong Kong media, Tao was so angry that he got off the car and waved a wooden rod at the fans. Yesterday, a netizen who claimed to be an eyewitness of the event gave an account of the incident. “The person who held the rod was a paparazzo. The photo [of the rod] circulating on the Internet was also taken by the paparazzo,” she explained.